Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Generations
later, historians have come to dispute the existence of Cherokee Bob. They
contend that he is nothing but a frontier archetype, conjured up by turn of the
century dime novel writers seeking to profiteer off the escapist desires of
urban audiences. Admittedly, the almost ubiquitous presence of Cherokee Bob in
frontier stories lends credence to their theory. However, despite the clichéd
name, local residents of the Ozarks today insist that such a man did exist. He
was, they say, an outsider whose short cameo in the history of the hills acted as the catalyst for the war. I, of course, believe they are both right.
Cherokee Bob was only a phantom. But as to his existence, I have no doubt. The
half-Indian drifted into Marion County, lit the town on fire and was never
heard of again. He was a ghost produced by the land, and he fulfilled the
purpose of his creation.

Cherokee
Bob had ridden east from the plains of Oklahoma along the old, familiar trail
into Northern Arkansas. It was a journey he made many several times a year on
his spotted Indian pony packed with varied odds and ends. His frequent
migrations made him well-known in Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Harrison and other
cities along the path. Though his pony was packed full with goods for sale, Bob
rarely pushed his wares. He was in the business of conversation and entertainment,
and so in every town he visited it was more important that he focus on the four
necessaries of conversation: the names, the news, the gossip and the gospel,
rather than peddle his goods. It was humor he sought, in talk and in act. And
since this humor almost inevitably came at the expense of others, it made him many
fast friends and a few scattered enemies.
By rule, it is a mistake to define a man using a single trait. Human
nature, even in the 1800s, was still far too complex for generalizations. That
being said, Cherokee Bob was, more than anything, a mischief maker. This habit
certainly would have got him into more trouble had he not been so transient.
Once the joke was done, he would disappear back onto the trail, only showing up
again months later when tempers had already cooled and laughs could be
exchanged.

In terms
of looks, there was little, other than his long, dark, braided hair and tanner
complexion that hinted to his half-Indian blood. In fact, a bystander seeing
Cherokee Bob for the first time might more easily mistake him for a Victorian
gentleman than a frontiersman. From waist-down, Cherokee Bob’s outfit was traditional
enough. Though he would undoubtedly have preferred more elegant leggings, the
practicality of his constant riding forced him to cover his coarse pants with a
tanned Buffalo hide. But from waist-up, Cherokee Bob dressed the part of a rich
city gentleman. His head always supported a black top-hat and around his neck
proudly hung a white, cotton cravat. And although Cherokee Bob’s shirt was
normally a dull, dusty white, it was perpetually covered by a fine, black,
three-button waistcoat. It was a mystery to the townsfolk that year after year
Bob would arrive wearing the same vest. The waistcoat was easily two sizes too
small and it seemed as if at any moment his formidable chest would split the
seams and explode the buttons. Yet somehow the coat held. The combination of
his Victorian torso and cowboy legs made him a conspicuous sight atop his
mottled pony.

On this
day, as he approached Yellville, riding towards his customary stop, his English
clothes were soaked with rain. The day had begun, like any usual August day in
the Ozark hills, with air full of heavy humidity and buzzing insects. Yet as
his day’s journey came to a close, the blue skies quickly filled with grey and
drenched the half-Indian rider. With the arrival of rain, the tall oak trees
that engulfed the road began to give the occasional shudder and bow as strong
gusts of wind tumbled down from the hillsides. Though not far from town and
shelter, the rain and wind caused no perceptible difference to Bob’s speed.
Instead, he lazily rode on. He trotted past the junction leading to Tutt Hill,
pausing to gaze up the path at the massive house perched atop the hill. He
noticed lights in the windows and thought briefly about turning up the path,
but instead continued into town.

Riding
on, he passed over the crooked creek bridge and stopped to watch the rain-water
rush underneath. On his visits, he had grown accustomed to seeing the creek
water idly pass from stale pool to stale pool. Now, the creek was filled to a
rushing torrent and still seemed discontent. He pondered on the significance
and continued over the wooden bridge. Houses began to appear in isolated lots,
some with manicured trees and tamed grass and others completely overrun by
vegetation. Soon, houses were appearing in regular intervals and the path grew
wider and deeper. His pony’s feet sank into the mud and slowed the pace even
more. Bob tested his memory, conjuring up the faces with the passing houses and
searching for the appropriate name. He was surprised both by how familiar he
had grown with the town’s residents and the appearance of so many new
buildings. In his early journeying’s through these hills, there had been little
more than Mooney’s ferry. Now, there was a newly built tailor shop featuring an
advertisement for fashionable pieces and cheap mends. Bob examined his
waist-coat.

A minute
later, Bob stopped near the entrance of the saloon and dismounted from the
horse into the deep mud. He pulled at the pony, dragging it towards the roof’s
overhang, giving the animal partial relief from the rain, and tied it to the
railing. Bob untangled the mass of goods, setting them to rest in a heap
against the covered wall. After a brief inventory, he picked up one of the bags
and headed into the saloon. At the doorway, he removed his hat, shaking drops
of water from his clothes and long hair like a stray cat.

The
patrons inside the bar were all staring. Enjoying the attention, Bob took a
long, sweeping glance of the premises. He saw little Quincy at the bar, tending
to his glasses and alcohol with nervous hands. In the middle of the room were dirty,
round tables, strewn between the room’s pillars and occupied by the smoke and
profanity of the bored and the drunk. There was no sign of Hamp or of Bart, but
there was still a good audience to be had. Sim was sitting at a table in the
corner with Isaac Bradford and Davy Mcneil, staring at Bob with cold eyes. Then
there was Sam and John King, the proud sons of old man King himself, enjoying
drinks and cards with the Irish twins George and Jeremy Dunbar. He wasn’t
surprised to see the Kings here, they were faithful patrons of Hamp’s saloon.
In actuality, it could’ve been said that Hamp was patron to the boys. Almost
immediately after forging a friendship with old man King, Hamp began to employ
the tall, strong boys in part to curry favor with their father and in part to
stand in as a type of security for his town investments. They were always to be
found lurking around the saloon and the general store, keeping an eye on the
customers, discouraging any unruly behavior. The sight of these King boys only
a few tables away from the glowering middle Everett brought back memories of
the town’s bad blood. Bob knew at once that this room was dynamite and he
couldn’t wait to light the fuse.

He gave
a big smile to the King boys, who greeted him, pushing out an open chair and
signaling for another drink.

“Well if
it ain’t Cherokee Bob. Is it already time for you to come again?”

“Can’t expect this old hand to stay in one place too long,
boys. Too much Indian blood in me.”

John and Sam rose from their chairs and exchanged
handshakes with their old friend.

“Well,
you take your time with this visit.” Sam said “We could always use some laughs.
Take a seat, first rounds on John.”

Bob set his bag down on the floor and sat into the chair.

“You
workin’ then now Johnny?” He said.

“No sir. Seems I got some Injun in me too, can’t bring
myself to go find honest work. But Quincy owes me a drink or two for not
beating his ass.”

“Hard to forget. Only red-heads in the region.” He gave a
nod to George and Jeremy who returned the greeting.

Quincy brought over a drink, setting it in front of John,
who in turn pulled his chair close to Cherokee bob and handed the drink over.

“I’ll
trade you.” He said, and stooped over to pick up the bag of goods. Bob watched him
root through the contents. There was a hint of anticipation in Bob’s eyes; John
could sense it but refused to bite.

“Good
lord, don’t you ever carry anything worth having?” John said with disgust as he
continued to poke through the bag’s content.

“I ain’t
never carried anything on me that’s not worth its weight in gold. If you keep
on insulting my wares I might not give you that special discount I gave you
last time.”

“Discount
my ass. That knife broke two days after you sold it to me. Damn thing couldn’t
even whittle a sapling branch.”

Bob let
out a laugh “The knife wasn’t for whittling. Shit, I should’ve known better to
think a white man could understand the value of such a blade. That knife was pried
out of the dead fingers of Sitting Bull, the Sioux chief responsible for
butchering hundreds of settlers out in the plains.”

“You
never told me that. Course, I can’t help but wonder how a vagrant like you
could end up with Sitting Bull’s blade. You buy it out of Barnum’s museum?”

“Don’t
be sour Johnny. If you aren’t pleased with your purchase I’ll be happy to buy
it back. Can’t have my customers go unsatisfied.”

John stopped
his digging in the bag and reached for his drink, giving Bob a smirk.

“You still
got a mouth full of sweet smelling shit, Bob. Knowing your buy-back rates, I
might as well keep it for flint-steel.”

“Don’t
say I didn’t offer.”

“Come on
John, if you don’t see anything you like pass it along.” Sam chimed in. John
passed the bag to his brother and shouted at Quincy for another drink.

“Sam,
I’ve prepared you something special in there.” Bob said with a wink.

Sam
peered into the bag. It was the normal, eclectic collection of scraps. He
sifted through a dried scalp, a rusty tomahawk, a harmonica box and pulled out
a heavy gold colored bar. Bob shook his head.

“Not
that. You heard what they say, all that glitters ain’t gold, and some things
that are gold don’t glitter. Look for something a little luckier.”

Sam
looked back in the bag and pulled out a single, muddy horseshoe.

Bob gave
him a grin.

“This?
What the hell would I want with a dirty old horseshoe?”

Bob
adjusted his cravat and cleared his throat, preparing himself for the
presentation. Sensing the entertainment to come, the Irish twins put down their
cards and turned their heads. Bob paused, waiting for more encouragement.

“You’ll
wait all day for the room’s attention.” John cut in. “Everyone knows not to
trust Indian tales.”

Bob
smiled over at John. “This story, John, I guarantee will satisfy.” He turned to
Sam. “Hand me that horseshoe.” Sam passed the horseshoe across the table. Bob
untangled his cravat and dipped it into his liquor, letting it soak. He lifted
the horseshoe, examining it like an appraiser would his diamonds. Then, with
delicate strokes, he used the liquored cravat to wipe away the caked mud. The
others watched in silent curiosity. Their fixation on Bob’s work attracted the
attention of the neighboring tables. Bob wiped one side clean and inspected it
with a careful eye. He shook his head.

“Quincy,
bring me something stronger than this watered down horse piss.” He called out.
Quincy, who had also been watching Bob’s labor with the horseshoe, gave a
startled jump when addressed. He reached under the bar and pulled out a squat,
dark bottle. He then poured the drink hurried it over to Bob.

Bob
handed him some coins and the dipped his cravat into the new cup.

“Wasting
some good drink.” John muttered. The others shushed him.

With his
cravat soaked anew, Bob began his gentle polishing. Soon, the mud was cleared
and the iron of the horseshoe shone with the luster of liquor. Bob held it up
again and released a satisfied smile.

“There
it is boys, there it is.” He held up the horseshoe.

His words
had a muffling effect on the room. Even
Sim and his boys at the other side of the room were glancing over, trying to
simultaneously feign disinterest and feed their curiosity.

There
was a brief pause. Jeremy Dunbar finally spoke up.

“So,
it’s a horseshoe?”

Bob gave
Jeremy an approving smile.

“Yes,
Jeremy it’s a horseshoe. But it’s also more than a horseshoe, for, as you all
know…” He gave a sweeping gesture to the room. “Horseshoes always come with a
horse.”

He paused again.

“So you’re selling me a horse?” Sam broke in.

“No. I’ve got no horse to sell. But this little gem here
raised two questions: what horse belonged to this horseshoe and where is it
now? I’m afraid boys that I can only answer one of those questions. But luckily
that answer makes for a fine story. You see, I have this Indian friend who told
me about a time he wandered here to Yellville seeking some sport. Now, I won’t
name names. I may be a no-good-son-of-a-Cherokee bitch, but I wouldn’t rat if
Mooney himself rode up with some law papers. But the story my friend had to
tell was too remarkable to keep quiet. As you boys know, from time to time
every Injun gets the inclination to get retribution on the white man who stole
their lands by stealing something of the white man. I can’t say I approve of
this view of justice, but it’s hard to condemn a man for stealing some loose
coins and frail chickens when his fore-fathers’ were robbed of entire
territories. It just seems wrong.

Well, my
friend when he was wandering through town saw this one real sickly looking
horse, ridden by this proud and slick looking man. He was watching the horse, thinking
how weak and tired it looked, when the poor beast looked him in the eye. Now my
friend had never been a believer in the medicine man traditions of his people,
but at that moment he felt a connection to nature that the Indian’s call ‘Ganatlia
Adonvdo.’ This sad looking horse looked him in the eye and pleaded in language
as plain and understandable as I’m speaking to you now, asking John to save him
from his slavery.

You can
imagine John’s surprise. He thought maybe he’d imagined the whole thing or that
he’d had a smoke too many of his peace pipe. But the horse looked at him one
more time and in a clear voice told him ‘save me.’ As I said, John wasn’t one
for believing in superstitions, but he remembered the experience of Balaam on
the road to the princes of Moab and decided that when an horse or an ass talks
to you, it’s best to listen. So he followed the horse and rider at a distance
until he saw them pull off the road and head for a flashy manor that seemed to
him to be the very house of Babylon. He watched from a distance as the rider
disappeared into a shabby looking side barn before re-emerging alone and
entering the house. My friend thought
to himself, 'how can a man with that much money treat his horse so poorly?’ He
decided that compassion required him to listen to the horse and free it from
its prison.”

Bob paused
and took a drink. He swept his eyes across the room, making sure he’d got their
attention. He saw Sim was reading the bottles on the Barkeeps shelf with a
forced intensity. His hand held tight to his glass, bits of white were
beginning to drift like snow onto the knuckle. Bob smiled and continued.

“My
friend waited until night. He watched the lights go out at the house and snuck
up to the barn. Of course, luck would have it that as he was getting to the
barn, it started raining. It wasn’t a light rain. No, it was coming down heavy,
heavier than that light shower out there today. The rain whipped through the
air in thick sheets and loud claps of thunder echoed across the hills. My friend took shelter in the barn. He was
worried, he thought the devil had conspired against his divine mission. He thought
about how the horse’s owners would follow his fleeing hoof prints and track him
down. As he was sitting there fretting, he heard a voice call out to him. ‘Fear
not’ it said, ‘have faith the Lord will provide for your good works.’ He turned
to look and saw the sad horsing staring at him. ‘I know better than to doubt a talking horse’
he said, ‘But I’m afraid we’re at our ropes end. I doubt you can outride the
Sheriff’s horse and they’ll follow us print by print.’

The
horse’s skinny face broke into a sad smile. ‘You see those horse shoes?’ The
horse motioned to the wall. ‘Bring them here.’ My friend collected a handful of
horseshoes from the wall and brought them back to the horse. ‘Now nail them to
my feet. The rain will cover the noise from my oppressor’s ears. But when you
nail them, place them on backwards and when we leave they will ignore our trail
since it will lead straight to the barn.’ My friend took courage at the animal’s
wisdom and did as he was told. When the deed was done, the two rode out into
the rain carefree as virgins.”

“Now the next day, the rich man and Mooney searched the
ground all morning for some trace of the thief, but all they ever found was the
lone prints that they assumed had been made when horse’s owner had brought the
beast to rest in the barn. It was a mystery to all how the horse could
disappear without a trace in the middle of a storm. Now if they’d been smart,
they’d of thought that the hoof-prints in the mud leading to the barn were
strange considering it’d hadn’t rain when the rich man brought it home. But the
horse knew its master wasn’t so smart.”

During
Bob’s story, Sim’s face had slowly caught fire, until now it was burning an
intense red. He spoke up from the back of the room. His voice was quiet, but
the rage inside created a palpable tension in the room.

“You tell your no-good Indian ‘friend’ that he has until
tonight to bring the horse back.”

The King boys looked from Bob to Sim and back again. A
slow smile spread across their faces. Bob shrugged at Sim.

“Wish I
could Sim. But even if I could go get the horse back, I still wouldn’t know who
to return it to. You see, the only clue my friend left me was this horseshoe.”

Bob held
the horseshoe up again for the crowd to see.

“That
rich rider was so proud that he had his own initials engraved on each
horseshoe. Now, I’d like to render unto Caesar that which is his, but I’ve
never been able to make out the initials. Maybe you can help me out Sam.”

He
handed the horseshoe to Sam, who held it up against the light with a satisfied
smirk.

“I see a
B.” He squinted. “The middle initial seems to be an M. But I can’t make out the
last one.”

Bob grabbed the horseshoe back from Sam.

“I should’ve known better than to think a King could help
me read. I need an educated man. Sim, why don’t you come take a look.”

The room went quiet. Sim slowly stood, glaring at Bob as
he rose. The crowd watched with nervous anticipation as he made his way across
the room. Bob patiently held the horseshoe in front of him, waiting for Sim
with an inviting smile. Sim stopped in front of Bob. He grabbed the horseshoe,
looked at it for but a moment and muttered.

“E.”

The
crowd remained quiet, unsure of the appropriate reaction. Bob gave them their
cue, letting out a great, bellowing
laugh that caused the whole room to join in. Sim sat still as the noise grew
louder and louder, staring at the horseshoe in his hand. Cherokee Bob and the
King boys were doubled over in their chairs, gasping for breath between their
tears of mirth. Sim looked up from the horseshoe at Bob and watched him laugh.
Then, in one savage movement, he grabbed the back of the Indian’s chair and
forced it back, sending Bob sprawling backwards. The laughter died immediately.
The King boys at once leapt to their feet, their bodies poised for a fight. The
room was now in a delicate balance, as Sim and his friends eyed the King boys
and their supporters.

Cherokee
Bob stood up slowly and let out a laugh.

“Hell
Sim, if I’d known it was your brother’s horse, I’d have tried to get it back for
you. But the problem is my friend told me that as soon as he’d left the town he
decided he’d no need for the horse. The thing was too frail to ride, so he sold
to a hungry looking fella hoping to get some discount horse-meat. The damn
thing only fetched him ten dollars.”

The
words had just escaped his mouth when his cheek was crushed by a blow from
Sim’s fist. In an instant the saloon erupted. Fists and chairs and bottles and
wild limbs exploded across the room as the men reveled in the violence. As the
men traded fists, Quincy stood at the bar and continued on with his duties of
cleaning the glasses, dispassionately watching the maelstrom of testosterone
sweep through the room. He’d seen fights before, and Quincy was sure that it
would be only a few short minutes until it died down. For the men of Yellville, fights were as common
and as necessary as water. On a macro scale, they acted as a vent for the
political tension between the Tutt and Everett families, and on an individual
level they were the proving grounds where men could forge coveted reputations. Once
the men had exhausted themselves from either earning or losing their honor, peace
would return.

But as
Quincy watched, he began to suspect this fight was something more dangerous
than simple proving grounds. He searched the room, trying to detect who or what
was causing the difference. His eyes landed on Sim. The man’s shirt had been
torn, revealing a strong body, glistening in the sweat of fury. He watched Sim
approach Sam King, who was celebrating a knock-out punch with a swig from his
shot-glass. The cup was still on his lips when Sim reached him. With a wild
swing, the cup was shattered and the shards driven into Sam’s nose and lip. A
misty cloud of blood and alcohol temporarily hung in the air. Sam beat his
blood to the floor. Sim’s hand was cut and bleeding, but the pain couldn’t
penetrate his rage. His anger had extended beyond Cherokee Bob and the Kings to
all life. Both friend and foe fled from his indiscriminate fists.

Quincy’s
intuition told him to go for the Sheriff, thinking that perhaps he could ward
off the impending actions of the night. But fate would not allow the fight to
stop until war had been started. On his way to the door, he bumped into
Cherokee Bob. Bob grabbed Quincy and threw him in front of a charging Sim. He
was knocked cold with one blow to the face. Cherokee Bob tactics only delayed
his thrashing. The force of Sim’s fury began to work tranquility on the room.
All other brawls simply ceased as the men stopped to observe Sim with a
frightened awe. As they watched him smash tables, chairs and men, they realized
that he had transcended man’s physical limitations and become something new
entirely. They marveled at his transformation.

The
men’s amazement doubled when they saw a garden hoe materialize in the room. It
floated through the crowd like an ostrich’s neck, or a beaked snake whose
charmed face waited patiently for a chance to strike. The onlookers stared at
this dreaded portent, aware that no good could possibly come from a garden tool
in a bar fight. The apparition paused in front of Sim, wary of the man’s
mystical danger. The two supernatural creatures circled one another in a dance
only they could understand. Then, in a flash of motion Sim lunged towards the
hoe and it saw its opening. The thing fell like a weight onto Sim’s fallow
skull. It was as if a pipe had burst, causing a spray of rich, crimson
droplets. Sim fell, the hoe still lodged in his head. It was only after all the
blood had settled from the air that the crowd noticed John King standing over
the body, his face spattered with blood, his grip tight on the hoe’s handle.

There
was silence as the men tried to process what they had just seen. These men were
used to blood, but the battle between Sim and the garden hoe gave them glimpses
at a new pantheon of violent mythology. The silence was interrupted when Sim’s
friends rushed to their fallen comrade. The king boys woke their half-breed
friend and slipped out the back of the bar. They were laughing as they left,
but it was hollow laughter. They sensed that their victory tonight would have
its consequences.

Sim’s
friends used dirty rags to stop the flow of blood. Quincy sat propped against
the side wall, watching the men at their desperate work.

“Shit, He’s
dead. Killed by a garden hoe.”

He kept
recounting Sim’s fate, exhausting all the various ways to describe a man’s
death. The others didn’t stop him. Quincy’s rambling seemed the only expression
for the strange sight they’d seen.
Before leaving to fetch the Sheriff, Quincy took one last look at the
man lying in the middle of the room.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

It was a quick conversation, which was to be expected now
that we were both adults. Gone were the days of post-midnight rendezvous in the
living room, staying up to hours normally off-limits to the sober, talking
about life’s great mysteries. Back then women were a mystery, as was the
future, gay marriage, politics, God and purpose. All was uncertainty. But the
uncertainty was not to be feared. No, we played like hatters with mercury,
rolling the boundless, limitless lives we led around the folds of our minds,
conjuring up great webs of silver dialogue. The uncertainty led to creation at
its purest. It made us the Gods of all ideas. Yet the uncertainty gradually
flaked away, the iron edges of the cookie cutter descended upon us, and like
hesitant infants ripped from the blessed womb we emerged as adults.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

People say fire starts
with the strike of a match. I say they are wrong. The match is only one part of
building a fire. With our limited eyes, we seek to simplify complex processes
by focusing on the most noticeable causes. And so we erroneously reason that
because it is impossible to start a fire without a match, the match must be the
beginning of fire. But how can a fire start without kindle to catch the flame
or oxygen to breath it life or shelter to protect it from the elements? The
striking of a match is only made significant by the fuel bed ready to ignite it
into something more.

The match that lit the Tutt-Everett war was a bar fight.
But the causes, the slow-building of tension that made the pile ripe for the
match must not go unexplored. It is, after all, a question of origin so common
to mankind. Without understanding beginning, the present loses significance.
And just as a man living in the crossroads of life must find Father Adam or
Mother Ape to find aim for his actions, so must the reader of this story
understand the Genesis of the Tutt-Everett conflict to fully comprehend the
violence.

As
already explained, the primal cause was the land itself. But the Ozarks curse
could never have come to fruition without willing actors, ready to push forward
its cause. Those actors were none other than the Tutts and Everetts. The two
families had divided Marion County almost from the moment of their settlement. Neither
Hamp nor Bart had ever spoken to each other, but on that day when Bart stopped
by to solicit a vote as Hamp was setting his saloon and general store, they
both came away knowing they had an enemy.

Bart saw
Hamp’s stocky build, dirty clothes, uncomely beard and surmised that the man
was not of his class. But like any good politician, Bart ignored his reserves
and succumbed to the temptation of gaining the additional vote. The
conversation started cordially enough as Bart explained to Hamp the virtues of
the Democratic party and urged the need for strong civic leaders to establish
the newly formed county as a standard of patriotism and liberty. Who better to
lead this county than Bart? After all, as he explained,

“I, my
man, am a retired colonel with years of experience in civil service and am dedicated
to making sure this county runs right.”

Hamp
stayed quiet during the long pitch, his eyes steadily growing narrower with
each passing minute. When Bart brought his discourse to a close, Hamp did not
mince words.

“I’d as soon fornicate with a goat before allowing a
democrat son-of-a-bitch like you take office.”

That
was the start of politics in the County, and yet it was not really politics
that made Hamp dislike Bart. While the
Tutts had generally not been in favor of Jackson and his supporters, they had
never been active in promoting any party of their own. What was it that caused
their enmity then? It was spiritual. Kindred spirits come together at first
word, conflicting spirits grow grudges at first sight. When Hamp looked at Bart
with his fine clothes and listened to his eloquent speech, he saw a threat and
he knew that out here, in the wilderness of the Ozarks, he and Bart were meant
to clash.

But Hamp
found it difficult to relate the divine origin of his hatred for Bart Everett. Even
his own boys couldn’t quite understand it. They would listen and throw in the
occasional supportive word, but he could tell they didn’t appreciate his grudge.
They didn’t understand how some men aren’t meant to coexist. Better yet, they
didn’t see that some men are meant to battle.

For days
Hamp obsessed on how to rally supporters to his cause. He hated the way Bart
talked and dressed and smelled and walked, he only needed some way help others
understand why. The answer came as he recounted his experience to old man Bob
King. Bob hung on Hamp’s every word in a way the others hadn’t. He nodding knowingly
when Hamp complained of the pompousness of the self-appointed Democrat leader
and his high and mighty doctrines. With this sympathetic ear, Hamp grew wild
with excitement. Bob’s sagely nods emboldened him and gave him a renewed
confidence in his justified hatred. His voice grew louder, his hands trembled,
his body ached to find more to complain of. Just as Hamp was preparing to
confide with the old man the divine root of this new hostility, Bob cut him
off.

“Hamp, I
never met a Whig more fiery than me until today. I tell you what, there are
plenty of Whigs in town feeling the same way ‘bout those Democrat
sons-of-bitches. They pushed us around with their damned policies but it stops
here. We can’t let them vote us out.”

As soon
as the words left Bob’s mouth, Hamp never again remembered the true origin of
his grudge towards the Everetts. From that day on, he became a zealous promoter
of the Whig platform and promptly ran for office. And so the war between the
Tutts and the Everetts gained its footing in the political arena. The two
families were driven by their strong-wills and prideful spirits. They initially
set about forging alliances and corralling the most ardent supporters from the
two institutions that hold the most sway over the hearts of man. For Hamp, it
was his saloon and the liberal half-off drinks that rallied the Yellville Whigs
and caused his constituency to swell. For Bart Everett, the democrats were
found in the church meetinghouse, where a pious preacher religiously advocated
the parish’s most prolific donator.

The 1838 election was tight. In the end it was Bart
Everett who beat Hamp by a sliver of a margin (which Hamp of course claimed was
due to fraud). But even with the loss, Hamp had enough successes that day to
compensate when his eldest, Richard Tutt was elected Sheriff. Both families had
now acquired footholds in county politics. Bart Everett immediately began to
exercise his power. He enacted a law to uphold the Christian values of the
community. Of course, the only noticeable change this law had on the town was
to shut down Hamp’s saloon on not only the Sabbath, but also on Saturday
nights. After all, as Bart explained to the approval of his religious
supporters,

“Saturday
nights were for men to come under the influence of the spirit in preparation
for the holy day, not to come under the influence of the bottle.”

On
Friday night of the next week, a fight broke out between the young King boys
and some of Bart Everett’s closest supporters. The King boys came out on top,
and to add insult to injury, the Everett supporters were arrested later that
night for “disturbing the county peace.” Charges against the King boys were dropped.

Thus were the sticks laid in preparation of conflagration.
Supporters were gained in Marion county not by honesty and integrity, but by a
loose spoils system. With your man in power, you had nothing to fear. There
began to spread a simple adage to describe the town’s new political philosophy:
“if you are voted into power that’s exactly what you get.” Leaders were not
chosen for their virtues and integrity, but for the rewards they could provide
to their supporters. Farmers voted for legislators who promised free land and
voted against those who encouraged gold standards, church-goers favored those
who supported additions to schools and disapproved of those lax on saloon
restrictions, business owners elected those who lowered taxes and opposed those
who encouraged Indian relations. The number of the town’s factions, in
correlation with the diversity of their opinions, created a delicate web of
support that would not allow any one family to gain a monopoly of political
power.

Perhaps in today’s political climate, such a system
doesn’t seem so foreign. Staunch federalists might even argue that such a
structure is a perfect reflection of Madison’s envisioned faction
democracy. But such an argument ignores
the truth that Madison’s political sentiments were for federal level or state level
at the least. To have such a system in place in a town of only 500 was
dangerous. This deadlock magnified the
town’s contention more than if one side had managed to conquer. It was as if
all of Yellville had entered into Dante’s fourth circle and the frustration
from their endless dance made them desperate for a release from the political
impasse.

A
mixture of pride and ambition made the two families fight against the
inevitability of the town’s unique political web. They refused to settle with
the positions they had already acquired and instead bitterly battled to expand
their power. The result of their struggle, however, was a yearly shuffling of positions
without either side gaining the upper hand. In 1838, Bart Everett was mayor and
Richard Tutt was sheriff. In 1842, Bart Everett was sheriff and Richard Tutt
was mayor. These two highly sought for positions switched hands every election
up until 1848 when the conflict boiled over. However, even smaller positions
that normally go unnoticed in politics, such as county treasurer or county
recorder, were the source of intense strife. In fact, the 1844 treasurer
election prompted the first major act of violence between the two families.
Upon hearing that Jeremiah Quinn had won the treasurer position, Jesse, the youngest of the Everett brothers,
promptly marched to Quinn’s house, called him out of the house, accused him of
cheating, and shot him dead. Bart swore to the public that he would punish the
crime, but somehow Jesse managed to escape into Texas.

The 1844
murder was undoubtedly the most dramatic of political events, but up until 1844,
the election of the Board of County Commissioners provided the most drama. After
his initial defeat, Hamp settled on being one of these elected members, where
he sat without serious competition up to the point of the conflict. Bart’s
younger brother Sim also took up the one of the board positions; he too faced
little political competition. The third chair, however, was in hot dispute. In
1838, it was held by Hamp’s good friend Cole Perkins. With the majority of the
board, the two collaborated as best they could to undermine the laws and
executive decisions of the mayor. In 1840, Cole lost his seat to Bart’s good
friend Jackson Bigsby, who colluded with Sim to smoothly pass and implement the
mayor’s wishes. The position continued
to switch each election, with each side more audacious in their attempts to
push their personal agendas. This last chair produced enough disputes that by
1844, it almost toppled the county into war.

But then
came the murder of Jeremiah Quinn. In a way, it saved the town. The fringe
supporters of the families and the few remaining neutral town members, fearing
the outbreak of lawlessness, banded together to peel back the political web
that seemed destined to last forever. In the election of 1844, Jesse Mooney was
elected to the Board of County Commissioners. His election must have been God
and Man’s last effort against the lands curse. Jesse never intended to run for
politics. He had married a beautiful woman with whom he had brought forth three
healthy children, Tom the oldest, followed by Susan and Jeremiah. His family
was his life. He had long since moved away from his father’s ferry on the White
river and established himself a respectable ranch. But after the murder, his
father paid him a long visit, and it was then that Jesse Mooney decided to
leave the ranch and enter politics.

Jesse
earned a reputation in town for being a hard-nosed law-man. He always gave his
best effort to enforce the law, no matter what family currently owned the
Sheriff’s post or the Mayor’s office. His displeasure with favoritism and his
devotion to justice nearly got him impeached. I have no doubt he would have
been impeached had everyone in town not held such reverence for the Mooney
family name. Jacob Mooney was the only true neutral member of the county. No
matter how hard the Everetts or Tutts tried to curry his favor, he obstinately
chose to remain in no-man’s land. Others in town who had tried to mirror
Jacob’s nonpartisan stance had been stamped out by intimidation, force, or
irresistible temptations. But Jacob Mooney was above the squabbles of the
current settlers. He had long lived in the Ozarks and knew how to navigate its
traps. This long experience gave him a power that elicited tacit respect from
all residents of the county.

As
Jacob’s only son, Jesse inherited some of his father’s respect. And yet, at the
same time, he also inherited enormous expectations. The town expected Jesse to
be his father. To his credit, Jesse did have his father’s heart. He tried his
best to steer clear of politics and made his family his jewel. But despite
these strengths, Jesse lacked his father’s mysterious power and so was as
susceptible to the land’s curse as the other citizens.

At the
end of his two year term, Jesse’s father became ill with a terrible fever. As
soon as the gravity of his sickness was known to the county-members, they
rallied their support around the old man. He was praised for his bravery in
settling the land and his dedication to the general well-being of its citizens.
When he died a few weeks before the 1846 election, several propositions were
made to deify the man by renaming prominent town-features. Main street became
“Jacob Street,” the tallest mountain became “Jacob’s Peak,” and the picturesque
pond at the edge of town was renamed “Jacob’s Pond.” And, as a final testament
to the strength of his power, all the town, both Tutts and Everetts, rallied
together to once again unbalance the delicate web and elect Jacob’s only boy as
sheriff. The town was right to deify the man; his death was his sacrifice for
the people, his one last endeavor to save the county from its inevitable
destruction.

Before
becoming sheriff, Jesse made a promise on his father’s name that he would be
the champion of justice and that he would “serve all warrants.” He made good on
his promise, ignoring family and political affiliations to make sure the law
was honored. His zeal was a promising sign for the town; it seemed as if
Jacob’s sacrifice had succeeded. But even a man as powerful as Jacob Mooney
could not subvert the land’s curse. By the end of Jesse’s reign as Sheriff, the
beyond-reproach Mooney name would become the most hated surname in all of
Northern Arkansas.

To be fair, Jesse had as much a chance of
success in politics as J. Edgar Hoover. Jeremiah Quinn’s murder and Jacob
Mooney’s death were but temporary roadblocks to the lands curse. Even with Jesse’s
groundbreaking elections to the Sheriff’s office, the town was too far hemorrhaged
to be saved. By 1848, the pride, ambition and desperation of the Tutt and Everett
families had formed Marion County into the perfect kindle box. All that was
needed was a spark. That spark, the proverbial match, came in August of 1848
when Cherokee Bob dismounted from his horse and entered Hamp’s saloon.